New Beginnings
by Fate Rowen
Summary: After growing into a young woman Renesmee has spurned Jacob's advances.  Jacob is devastated by the binding of his imprinting and travels north looking for help.  He finds the help he needs along with a new friend; and maybe more. -Jacob/Zach-
1. Introduction

**New Beginnings**

(a Twilight fan-fiction work)

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><p>** The following work is set in the years after the Twilight saga ends. Jacob is struggling with his imprinting on Renesmee and is trying **<br>** to find a way to counter the effects of it. One of the characters he meets during his journey is Zachary, who Jacob strikes up an unlikely **  
>** friendship with. This friendship has the potential to blossom into a romantic interest forcing Jacob to balance his feelings for both his new **<br>** friend and Renesmee. **

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><p>** This work would be considered 'slash', -JacobXZachary-; with Zachary being a newly introduced character. **<br>** Some of the characters used in this adapted fiction are the property of of their respective copyright holders. This work is provided as-is **  
>** for non-comercial use. Please feel free to leave me any commentssuggestions/typos, etc. **  
>** The story, when finalized, should run about 12 chapters at roughly 7,000 - 10,000 words per chapter; plus the introduction. **<p>

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><p><em>Introduction<em>

The moon hung low over the horizon, bathing the ocean in a bright but pale light. The waves were especially harsh, powerfully crashing into the jetties that littered the shore. Jacob ignored the spray that splattered across his previously dry jean shorts. He howled at the moon in frustration. He wasn't shifted at the moment, although part of him wished he was. His thoughts, however, were not private when he was in wolf from. He was frustrated and wanted to work through his pain without the prying ears of the rest of his pack.

Renesmee had spurned his advances. Very quickly she had grown into a young woman. This was expected after seeing what had happened with another just like her who lived in South America. It was now just a few years after her birth, in fact, and she put any sixteen year old girl to shame.

They had first met under strained circumstances. Jacob had arrived at the Cullen house, shortly after her birth, to destroy the young child. This attempted act was born out of a desperation to protect his tribe. Renesmee was a half vampire, half human mix - something that was unheard of throughout most of the vampire world and something unimaginable in the shapeshifter world.

He had entered the front door to the Cullen's house with a determined and hardened look on his face. He maneuvered himself through the entryway into the living room where Rose was dotted over the young child with a motherly affection. Since he had allied with the Cullens, despite losing Bella forever, the vampires didn't try to stop him. They had no idea of his intentions. Something unexpected happened, however.

When he entered through the arch into the living room, he saw Renesmee for the first time meeting the gaze of the child. Though she was just a newborn baby, Jacob felt a rush of feelings fill the empty void that had just minutes ago been carved out of his soul upon watching Bella die (or so he believed at the time) from the birth of the child. This emptiness had been building for a long time; this longing he felt for the awkward but endearing woman. But in a moment, in this moment, the emptiness vanished and the immediate hold of imprinting caused him to fall unequivocally in love with Renesmee.

Imprinting is a strange phenomenon unique to Quileute shape-shifters. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the development of an imprint, but it is widely assumed within the tribe that it takes hold when the shifter finds their soulmate. No one knows if it is a developed trait meant to help propagate the shapeshifter blood to ensure the tribe is protected through the rest of time, but one thing is for sure, the first moment the shape-shifter locks gazes with the individual they feel the effects. It is at this point they become whatever it is the person needs, whether it is as a protector or guardian, brother, or lover.

When Jacob initially imprinted on Renesmee her mother Bella was livid. In some ways imprinting is like a preordained marriage, although the target of the imprinting is not forced to have any such feelings. It is believed, however, that the imprintee would never decline the love of the shape-shifter, since by definition they are a perfect match and the shape-shifter would have a level of love, affection, and obedience that surpassed that which could be offered by mundane feelings of love.

Of course that is what Jacob had thought. Until now. Renesmee had declined his advances once she became old enough for the feelings to blossom into romantic ones, and had referred to Jacob as an older brother figure - the touch of death for a romantic relationship. He understood what she wanted and even though it pained him greatly he was more concerned with what would make her happy. So, internally depressed and wracked with pain, he put forth a happy charade and pretended all was well in the world.

Edward knew, of course, since Jacob's mind was susceptible to his mind reading ability. He knew the pain Jacob was feeling but wisely stayed quiet, even to Bella. Bella, on the other hand, almost seemed happy. She didn't display this out right, of course, but Jacob could tell from the slight smile - barely even noticeable - and by the tone in her voice. She was happy to have Jacob in the family and couldn't think of a better match for her daughter but Jacob always had the feeling that there was some lingering sense of jealousy there. He laughed thinking about this. "She turned me down, not the other way around," he thought.

Jacob had left. Only for a short trip, of course. The imprinting made him into what Renesmee needed. Even though she was only interested in a platonic love with him, he still desired having that, even if it couldn't be more. He had decided to travel north of Forks. He had been told that a Quileute wise woman, named Carol, lived north outside of the reservation alone in a wooded glen. She generally spurned the tribal community, preferring to live on her own. Jacob's father, Billy, recounted her leaving the tribe, heading north after the death of her husband from a tragic hunting accident. Harry Clearwater was responsible for the accident, or so he claimed upon returning from the trip with the woman's husband. She grieved for weeks and months, and then left.

Members of the tribe still occasionally happened upon her. She was good with tinctures and other herbal medicine. The Quileute wasn't a rich tribe and when modern medicine was outside of their means they sought more traditional cures. Results were mixed but there is something to be said about not waiting around to be claimed by a sickness without doing a thing.

Jacob had told Billy about what happened with Renesmee. His father seemed to think that it wouldn't be the final answer and that she just needed more time - technically only being a few years old. This didn't satisfy Jacob, however, and so Billy mentioned Carol.

"Some of the tribal elders believed that Carol had imprinted on her husband, the love was so strong," he told Jacob. "It's kind of silly since she isn't known to have phased and there was no threat to prompt it. Still, her grief was so strong and her love for him unbendable, there were whispers that it could only be the work of imprinting. I don't give it a lot of thought, but maybe she does know something about it. Or even just how to cope with the loss."

Jacob agreed since he had really no other choices. The few days away would be good for him, even though it is painful for an imprinted member of the tribe to be away from their loved one.

And so he found himself traveling the twenty or so miles or so north toward where she lives, heading up the coast of the Olympic Peninsula. Desperation can do funny things to a person and he was feeling his share of desperation.


	2. Chapter 1

**New Beginnings**

(a Twilight fan-fiction work)

_Chapter 1_

Jacob wasn't too worried about being in danger. He was traveling quickly through the forest, in wolf form, and few things out here would be a threat to him. Sure, he could run into a clan of vampires, but he almost relished the idea of a fight. It wasn't likely that he would even run into that, anyway. The Cullen clan attracted their share of bad apples who didn't like the fact that they were "vegetarian" and didn't feed on humans. Most other vampires found this amusing, but some were threatened by it. They felt it mocked their very nature.

He was slightly comical in his wolf form on this journey. Since he'd be talking with Carol, he had to manage to bring clothing with him. It was probably the most annoying part of phasing to him, the fact that his clothing - if he had any on - were tore to bits in the process. He kind of wished it was more like what you'd see on TV, where the character's clothing shifted into wolf form with him.

He settled on packing a small backpack with a few pairs of shorts and a shirt or two in it for when he arrived. He carried the backpack in his maul, running through the woods like a bandit carrying off a camper's backpack.

The journey itself was a pleasant one. It was just turning fall and the leaves were shifting colors from a bright green to an array of reds, yellows, and oranges. Jacob particularly liked the trees that turned their leaves all orange. The weather was also more pleasant than expected. It didn't rain, which was almost unexpected in this part of the country, and the sun remained out warming the forest he was transversing.

"Yeah," he thought to himself, "no leaches would be out in this weather. Too much a chance they'll sparkle and give themselves away." He chuckled to himself, which in wolf form sounded like a strangled growl. "Real men don't sparkle," he thought. "But I guess they don't change into wolves either."

The sun was far from setting but he could tell it was early afternoon from where it sat in the sky. He decided to stop and take a break. He was panting from the exertion and didn't even really realize how hard he was running. However, he noticed that it seemed the further he got from Renesmee, the less he felt the sting of rejection.

He was tired from the run, but it had felt exhilarating. Over the past several years he hadn't done as much patrolling of the reservation as he probably should have, in large part to his attachment to Renesmee. Every day he felt like he should be around her; felt like he needed to be around her. Looking back on it, the feelings were quite disquieting, but he was a man obsessed. He was happy. Though it was like Leah had said years ago when they were speaking about imprinting, its artificial happiness. But maybe any happiness is good, right?

He struggled with the thought - about being happy, being in love, imprinting. He didn't have any feelings for Bella anymore. He loved her of course, but now she was a bloodsucker herself, and with Renesmee in the picture he didn't feel anything more for her than brotherly affection.

A peculiar scent caught his attention and brought him out of his thoughts. The scent was odd. It was of the Quileute tribe, a shapeshifter smell even. But there was something else. Almost like a vampire smell. And human. He lept suddenly to his feet, having phased out of his wolf form after finding a small clearing. He saw, at the edge of the clearing, a smallish wolf staring at him. The wolf wasn't threatening at all, but seemed rather curious.

Jacob exhaled. "Woah boy, you're probably confused. I smell a lot like you don't I? I wonder why you smell all crazy, though. You've been trying to hunt down bloodsuckers?" Jacob laughed to himself at the thought of the small wolf chasing a vampire. He let him self relax a bit and settled back down to his makeshift bed for a nap. He wasn't exactly sure he would fall asleep, but he wasn't afraid of his visitor.

After a few minutes the wolf was gone and Jacob did fall into a few hour long slumber.

"Oh shit," he mumbled as he stifled a yawn when he woke up, "I have to get going." It was mid afternoon now and he had hoped to make it to Carol's house by evening. He looked around briefly to check to see if the small wolf had come back. Seeing nothing, he phased into his wolf form, grabbed his bag in his mouth, and continued on his way up north toward where he expected to find her.

The rest of the trip took a little under two hours and was uneventful. Eventually, Jacob reached what he assumed was Carol's little hut before the sun had set. Some distance from the hut he phased back into human form and put on his clothing he brought with him in his bag. He didn't feel it would be appropriate to show up at her door naked.

He was a little nervous, but lumbered up to her door and knocked. After a few minutes an ancient woman answered the door.

"Hello?" she asked, somewhat puzzled at first but understanding once she saw the Quileute features in Jacob's face. Then she stepped back a half pace when she took in his enormous frame.

"Hi. I'm Jacob Black, son of Billy Black." She nodded at the introduction but didn't offer her own back. Jacob stammered, "..uh, my father thought that maybe I could talk to you. Things haven't been going very well and he thinks you might be able to help?"

"How old are you boy?" she asked roughly, creasing her forehead as she stared him down.

"Twenty four," Jacob replied.

"You don't look that old. You look like a child still." Jacob blushed some. Phasing tended to either stop or slow down the aging process. With the Cullens continuing to live near La Push, the pack hadn't lost the phasing ability and didn't seem to be aging.

The old lady nodded once. "Well, come in already. We've a lot to talk about I gather." She immediately turned in toward the inside of the house.

Jacob remained uncomfortable, but followed her in. "Just to make sure, you're Carol right?"

"Yeah. Thats who I am."

Looking around the small abode Jacob could see that Carol certainly didn't live in luxury. The place was small, and cluttered, although not dirty. There was what almost looked like a makeshift kitchen - one that might have been meant as a temporary one but has stuck around for quite a number of years. The living room area held an old lounge chair next to the fire place along with a beat up couch. Both of these didn't match and were probably castoffs recovered by Carol. The fire place itself looked to be nothing more than a crude brick opening with a flue leading out of the house.

"The weather was nice today," Jacob began, thinking of engaging her with small talk.

"The weather is always nice. Whether it rains or is sunny or snows or hails, its the will of our planet and necessary and so nice." Her reply caught him off guard, he wasn't expecting a philosophical approach to his off hand comment.

"Why do you live out here, this far away from the tribe? It took me a day to reach you."

"Did you come by, um, foot?" she asked abruptly. Jacob was not sure how to answer it. It would take a lot longer by foot, he came by paw. But it would be hard to say he came by vehicle when there was none outside when he arrived.

"Something like that," he meekly replied to her question. She nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm a fast runner and don't exactly have a car anyway." At this Carol grinned broadly, the first smile Jacob had seen her make. The grin creased her face filling her forehead with deep wrinkles.

"When was the first time you phased?" she asked. He was somewhat surprised by her directness. She would know about all of the Quileute legends, of course, but he didn't expect her to be this blunt. Or maybe even to believe them. It had been generations since the last Quileute phased to confront the threat of vampires and she had left the reservation long enough ago not to know about the current resurgence in activity. Of course, she might know about the treaty with the Cullen clan.

"Uh ... when I was 16 I think. How did you know?" He sputtered his response, not sure if he should have denied it or not.

"Well you got here on foot by your own admission. You couldn't have done that just by running. Besides, you smell like the forest." She nodded, knowingly.

Jacob was puzzled by this. Was Carol a shifter? The tribe didn't believe that women could become shifters but then Leah Clearwater did. Carol took note of the expression on his face and answered his unspoken question. "When you get to be my age, boy, you know things. You can tell when something is out of place. Your clothing is cleaner than a long trip on foot through the forrest would have allowed. You must have carried them.

He nodded and decided to be blunt and forthcoming himself. He needed her help after all. "My dad told me you were a healer of some sort before you left the tribe. A medicine woman or something like that?" Jacob felt it was best to bring the conversation back to her.

"Something like that," was all she replied. At this she moved over toward the fireplace and took hold of the pot over it. After filling it with water from a very unsanitary looking sink, she stuck it back over the crackling flames. Next to the fireplace was a wooden bookshelf, with four shelves on it. Each of these were packed tight with bottles and loose plants and other seemingly random objects.

"So why have you come here?" she asked. She was now sprinkling what appeared to be dried herbs into the pot.

Jacob took a deep breath. He supposed he might as well come clean, no sense in beating around the bush any longer. "I've imprinted," he said, "and I need to find a way to get rid of it." With this she dropped the wooden ladle that she had just picked up to stir the pot. It hit the floor making a loud clanging sound.

Turning to him she asked, "why?" It was the first time since their meeting at the door of her hut where Jacob felt he had the upper hand of sorts. At leas the first time where he felt like she didn't already know what he was about to tell her. She was off balance.

"She doesn't love me... at least not in the way I want," he said simply. "I know I'm supposed to be OK with that... but I'm not. I can't deal with it; it's killing me."

Even more lines appeared on Carol's forehead than Jacob thought possible as her brow raised. "She may come around in time boy. Although I'm amazed that you were able to pry yourself away to come see me. The pain must be terrible."

A pained look crossed Jacob's face as he was reminded directly of it. "It is," he replied. "Worse than anything I've ever felt before." A helpless look crossed his face as his eyes widened and brow furrowed. Carol couldn't help but feel sorry for the large boy.

"Did you just meet this girl recently son? How new is the imprinting?"

"I imprinted about 5 years ago on her."

"And you've been living with this pain for that long? That's horrible."

Jacob sucked in his breath. He wasn't looking forward to disclosing all of the details of this, but it was probably naive to believe he could get any type of help, if it even existed, by being vague. "She only rejected me recently. Just a few weeks ago."

"So you were together for several years then?"

"Not exactly. I imprinted on her shortly after her birth."

Carol exclaimed, "Son, she's still a baby! But a toddler, how could she reject you? You shouldn't have romantic feelings for her from the imprinting..." she trailed off looking at him warily.

Jacob sighed, "It's not like that. She has matured, sort of. Faster than a human because she's not really human."

Carol gave a start. "Shifters don't mature that fast."

"This girl...this girl isn't Quileute. She's half human and half vampire." Jacob said rthe last bit of this statement in a whisper, hoping on some level that Carol wouldn't hear.

Carol gave him a blank look at first. Then, a dawn of realization his her. "Oh," was all she said. Jacob had expected a more severe reaction than this one. His whole tribe had legends of the 'cold ones' that each member knew about.

"You don't seem as put off by this as I would have expected."

"You've imprinted. You don't choose that. And you don't choose who."

Jacob took the opening Carol was offering. "My dad thought you might know of some way to reverse the imprinting. He said it was kinda assumed that imprinting was responsible for you and your husband." Jacob knew he was likely entering territory he might want to avoid, but he needed to find out if Carol had any answers for him. The pain in his chest was more dull now since he was further away from Renesmee, but it was still there.

Carol laughed. A loud bawdy laugh. "So that's what they think is it? No, there was no magic to our love. At least no imprinting magic. Bobby had never phased. We didn't even know it was actually possible - it was only tribal legend at the time. The only reason I thought of it with you is because another young man had come to me a while ago, with a different problem, but he had phased."

Jacob was suddenly curious. "Who was that?"

"Ah, son, its nothing so dramatic as you probably think. And nothing interesting. There might be something that can be done about your problem though." With this she managed to completely throw Jacob off of his interest in whoever had come before him.

"Really? How?" he demanded.

"Well, I'm not sure if it works and all, but through my family there is a ritual of sorts that has been passed down. It is said to temper the heart. It might help you. It's at least something to try, I guess." Carol looked down at the cracked hardwood floor sheepishly. "I've only performed it once before, but I think I know it well enough."

A hopeful Jacob asked, "When can we do this? Can you do it now?"

Carol smiled. "Soon. Tomorrow. It is already late and I'm tired."

"Oh," said a crestfallen Jacob.

"I know it's hard son, but you want me at my best for this, I guarantee that."

Jacob was only too glad that there was something that Carol thought she could do. "Tomorrow works. What time do you get up? I can be back whenever it is."

"Early. But where do you think you'll go? Out in the woods I suppose. Come now, I have a spare room here. Not like it is getting any use and I don't think you're going to try to run off with my things, meager as they are. Oh and the room isn't a Hilton mind you, it might not be quite what you're used to staying in."

Jacob grinned. "No ma'am, the Cullens may have fancy things but I don't. Whatever you have will be more than good enough. Although I don't mind sleeping out under the stars either."

"Yeah, well, its going to rain tonight I think, so take shelter where you can get it. Who are these Cullens you speak of?" Apparently she didn't know of the treaty between the tribe and the clan of vampires. Jacob quickly filled Carol in on who the Cullens were and how they fit into his situation. He kept it brief, but gave her an account of the past several years.

Carol then showed Jacob over to the small guest room. It wasn't any bigger than a closet, but Jacob was happy to be out of the impending rain. It wasn't late yet and Carol was making some type of dinner so Jacob decided to go outside for a bit of fresh air while it was still nice.

The sun was starting to set which was the perfect time to run around in the forest and stretch his legs. As a wolf of course. He told Carol he would be back shortly and she just nodded. He left the small house and traveled about a quarter of a mile away from it before he disrobed and phased into his wolf form.

It felt good to be back in his wolf form after spending some time in the cramped house. It wasn't long, he had just felt awkward talking to a complete stranger about imprinting and shifting. In some ways it was liberating not to feel like it was his secret - like he would have around anyone outside of the tribe - but this feeling of freedom was still new to him.

He sprinted through the wooded area taking in all the sweet smells of the forest. A squirel had been there, no doubt looking for any last acorn it could find before the winter set in. The breeze carried the various scents of the forest to Jacob's nose, while at the same time swaying the top most branches of the trees causing a cascade of yellow orange, and red leaves to drift down upon him.

He could smell the coming rain that Carol spoke of. He wondered how she knew. He hadn't seen a TV in her place and imagined there wasn't a cable connection anyway. But she was a wise-woman after all, they had their ways. Maybe a radio broadcast? Maybe she could feel the storm in her bones? He had heard a number of the older tribal women complain about stiffness in their joints when a storm was approaching.

The wondering about her abilities passed from his thoughts, as he felt the wind ruffle his fur. He ran up a small bank near a river, although he didn't jump in. The river had already grown violent, the currents crashing through naturally occurring rocks causing a great swell of foam. It was almost if the river itself was anticipating the coming storm and celebrating the inevitable rush of water that would swell its banks. He turned, and traveled through a pair of large oak trees towering over a side game path like giant sentinels guarding the trail. The path laid out before him was well worn, marked by the passing of an assortment of wildlife. He spun to a stop suddenly as he saw that ahead of him was the small wolf that he had seen earlier in the day.

"I wonder if it followed me the whole way here," Jacob thought to himself. He ran into it several hours run away from this area. As Jacob got closer he could smell the peculiar smell of this wolf. There was the scent of fur and dirt that you would expect on a wild animal. There was also a detectable odor of musk. Usually Jacob would smell this around the tribe men - a sort of sweaty and salty smell. This was even more pronounced after they had been working, such as last summer when they had helped build once of the tribe member's house that had partially collapsed from an overly strong storm.

There was also a slight smell of decay. This wasn't unusual, especially to Jacob. He would often notice this scent in two instances. First, sometimes out in the forest when he would run across an animal that had been dead for a while, he would notice the smell. The second place was when he was around the Cullens. Over the past number of years he had gotten used to the smell, with being around Renesmee and the rest of the Cullens on an almost daily basis.

Jacob's wolfen eyes adjusted to the darkening scene as the sun began setting and the sky was filling with dark clouds. He noticed the wolf in more detail than he had earlier. The fur was somewhat of a reddish brown color, not unlike his own. He hadn't noticed the coloring earlier since the wolf was at the edge of the clearing surrounded by vegetation.

The look on the wolf's face was one of curiosity, Jacob thought, appraising the blank look he saw. "I'm surprised its willing to get this close to me," Jacob spoke thought. "All of the wolves I've seen in the forest have fled from me." He had always assumed it was his scent that kept them at bay.

Jacob moved closer to the smaller wolf to see if it would scamper away. It didn't. It continued to stare at Jacob blankly.

Jacob growled and the smaller wolf's ears perked up for a second and the wolf darted away. Jacob was unnerved by the whole experience. Something wasn't quite right about this wolf. He had been even further north than this and didn't remember any of the packs acting oddly, especially not a lone member.

With a shake of his head he started on his little jaunt around the forest again. It was getting darker and darker by the minute, and he decided to head back to Carol's house. "Might as well get some rest," he thought.

He stopped about a quarter of a mile away from the residence to retrieve his clothing and shift back into human form. By the time he returned to the hut it was completely dark. In the forest, night is much more black than it is in the city, but Jacob's heightened visual senses made it easy to navigate through it.

As he finished pulling on the pair of shorts he brought with him, he was startled by a voice.

"Hi."

Jacob was almost knocked over, literally, by the surprise. His mind had been wondering to what Carol had said earlier. Whoever this was had been able to completely take him by surprise. He looked around, almost frantically and asked, "Who's there?"

"Me," came the voice. He noticed it was coming from more above him. The voice was nonthreatening, meek even, and somewhat musical. He squinted into the trees and eventually saw a smallish human figure nestled in the branches.

"Who are you," Jacob asked. Now that his senses were back at his command, he could smell the mixture of musk, decay and a slight scent of honeysuckle if Jacob was correct. This smelled much like Renesmee. He was on guard, but not worried. If it was a half breed vampire-human, then the creature wouldn't be nearly as strong as a full vampire. Its senses would also be more limited as probably its speed would be. He could easily overpower it if he phased.

The figure slid through the branches and landed softly across the glade from Jacob. Out of the trees Jacob could take in the figure better. It was obviously male, wearing very little clothing, only some loose fitting shorts. Similar in fact to himself although the intruder's were of a khaki cargo style than Jacob's own jean shorts. It was a flash back to the 90s and all those GAP commercials he had seen as a kid while watching the game with his father.

The interloper was shorter than Jacob. Much shorter. This wasn't typically a hard feat given Jacob's 6'5" frame, but this person was closer to five foot, maybe around 5'3" or 5'4". He appeared about 15 or 16 years old, although age is difficult to determine even when you are not in near pitch darkness.

It was hard to tell given the darkness, but his skin appeared fairly dark to Jacob, especially for what he assumed was some type of vampire kin; not too much lighter than even his own. His body was well muscled for his size, very trim and toned. His hair was black, or at least seemed so in the dark.

"I'm Zachary," he finally responded after assessing Jacob's large frame. Zachary didn't appear very threatening. He held no weapons and made no move to get closer to Jacob. "Who are you?"

Jacob pulled on his shirt over his head, trying to keep a watchful eye on this Zachary. He didn't want to give the impression he was afraid of him, but if he let himself loose focus for even a split second that could give this guy all the time he needed to secure an advantage if he were to attack. Half blooded vampires were still vampires, and very much liked human blood. "I'm Jacob Black of the Quileute tribe." He saw no reason to lie, and he wasn't ashamed of who he was.

"You are a spirit warrior then," Zachary asked with curiosity.

"Yeah, I guess. And you're a lea...vampire?" Jacob was about to use the more derogatory word 'leach' but thought better of it. He had become fairly comfortable around the Cullens but was still suspicious of any outside of their clan. Old habits die hard.

"My father is," was all that Zachary replied.

Jacob swiftly looked around trying to bore into the darkness with his vision. He hadn't even considered that there might be others around and that this Zachary could be a distraction. Zachary took notice of Jacob's sudden heightened anxiety.

"He isn't here. I've never met him and I really don't want to. He killed my mother, by making me." There was a pained look that crossed Zachary's otherwise stoic face. Immediately Jacob thought he understood. Full term pregnancies didn't seem to end well. Bella, for all intents and purposes, died during her giving birth to Renesmee. She was 'saved' by being turned into a vampire through Edward Cullen's venom. In hindsight Jacob had mused that it was an ironic way to save someone, though at the time he was conflicted about which he would choose - her death or life in undeath.

"You live in these forests then? Alone?" Jacob had lowered some of his guard. If Zachary was lying, there wasn't any reason for it to be taking this long. He should have been ambushed by now.

Zachary nodded in response to his questions. "My sister lives here and I sometimes go south to the town, to talk with people." And bite them, Jacob added silently. "But I mostly stay in the forest, its safer for me."

"Safer? From what?" There were few things that would put vampires, even half breeds, in danger.

"From our tribe," Zachary responded calmly.

Jacob did a double take. The significance of Zachary using the word our wasn't lost on him. "You're Quileute?" Jacob asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. I'd thought you'd have been able to tell from how I look." Now that Zachary mentioned it, Jacob could see the distinguishing features of Quileute in him. These were watered down by whatever features were mixed with the Quileute genes.

"Well it is dark out," Jacob almost snared, embarrassed that he had been too absorbed in his own thoughts not notice some of the most basic details about a possible opponent. But he hadn't even considered the possibility of Quileute vampire.

"Was your mother or father Quileute? Is your sister? How come I've never heard about you from the elders?" Jacob already knew the answer to the last one. Quileute or not the pack wouldn't have left Zachary survive. In some ways this pulled on Jacob's heart. He's become accustomed to vampires and even though he realized that the Cullens were far from ordinary, he felt empathy for Zachary's story about being alone. Actually, he sympathized with it.

"My mother. I don't know what my father is. And my sister too, although she left the tribe after her husband died. I take care of her now, even though she doesn't really need my help. I guess in reality she takes care of me," Zachary reflected.

Left the tribe after her husband died. These words were familiar to Jacob. "Carol?"

Zachary's gaze, which was searching through the tree tops while he was monetarily lost in thought, flashed back to Jacob. "You know her?"

"Yeah, well, sort of. She's helping me with something." Jacob continued warily, afraid of giving away too much information, "actually she's expecting me back now, so I should probably go."

"Of course. We should return to her."

"Woah buddy, she's just expecting me. There's no 'we' in 'me'." Tiny droplets of rain started sprinkling down on the two of them in the glade.

Zachary shrugged, "a few hours ago she messaged me to come by tonight." He pulled out a cell phone. A Razr it looked like, one from the early 2000s. It was pretty beat up and humorously one of the ones with the pink accents although the color was well worn.

Jacob smirked at the phone, "A little dated isn't it? Did you just find that on the ground somewhere?" Even though he was starting to get wet from the rain, Jacob chuckled.

Quickly stashing his phone in one of his pockets, Zachary glowered. "Carol gave it to me so she could keep in touch more easily. Although its reception is pretty poor out here. Well hot shot, I guess I'll race you back!" And at that Zachary was gone. "So much for being significantly slower than your average vampire," Jacob thought as he started sprinting toward the hut.

Despite himself he grinned. "No fair!" he yelled.

It only took Jacob a few brief minutes to get back to the hut, but Zachary was already there, inside.

"Welcome back slowpoke," he said as he grinned triumphantly.

Carol chuckled at Jacob's annoyed look. "I see you've met Zack. I asked him to visit, we'll need him for tomorrow night's ritual."

Jacob's head swam. "What for?" was all that he could get out. He wanted to ask Carol about Zack, about leaving the tribe, about their mother. About how old they each were. But he supposed those questions would be prying and first and foremost he wanted her help to try to negate the imprinting on Renesmee. This flood of thoughts made his mind flash to the girl he was essentially running away from. his heart fluttered and his chest ached. He felt that familiar empty feeling in the pit of his stomach - the unmistakable sensation that happens when you realize, after rejections, that whether or not you'll be with someone depends on much more than just your own feelings.

"You'll see tomorrow," was all she said. It lost some of its aura ofmystery since it was said in the middle of a yawn.

"Wait you can't just say that!" Jacob gestured at Zack, who was curled up almost into a ball on the couch and already asleep. Even though Jacob knew Renesmee slept sometimes, he still was startled to see this. "What could he possibly have to do with this? I hadn't even met him before a few hours ago."

Carol laughed. "We'll need a bit of his blood. Normally to dispel unrequited love, the ritual calls for some blood from the person who you want to, shall we say, fall out of love with. Normally I just use any human blood if we couldn't get some. You're situation, on the other hand, is much more severe, you've imprinted. I don't really know if it will help, to be honest, but I figure we have our best chance with some of this Renesmee's blood." Carol cut Jacob off as he started to protest. "Assuming that you don't have any with you and since you're probably not willing to go get some, I'll try to use some of Zack's blood instead. Since both of the two are half vampire, I think that gives us our best chance."

Jacob was unsure about this, but then again this wasn't his area of expertise. His chest hurt, a constant dull pain, and he was willing to try whatever to stop it. And this Zachary didn't seem too bad.

"Look at me, I was essentially made to fight vampires, and now they seem to be intertwined into my whole life." Jacob turned his gaze from Zachary over to Carol. "What happened with him?"

A pained look crossed Carol's face and Jacob was afraid he'd gone to far. However, she didn't seem to notice his nervous expression as she stared past him.

"My mother, Sara, was one of the first generation that started to be given biblical names instead of our traditional tribal names. You see, when the school was started by Mr. Smith, he manage to end that tradition in our culture." Carol was clearly saddened by this, and given her traditional roots in medicine and ritual, Jacob wasn't surprised.

"Mr. Smith was the Christian missionary who came to our village," Carol said in way of explanation. Jacob of course knew this but listened politely.

"Anyway, Sara was married to Joseph Clearwater." Jacob recognized the name as the older brother of Leah and Seth's grandfather. "He was a good man and was my father. Tragically, when I was only 7 or 8 years old he died. My mother was distraught and lapsed into depression. She ended up leaving a few years later, leaving me in the care of her brother-in-law."

"When I was 16 she returned, pregnant. The tribe was scandalized, although she didn't seem to care. She wasn't doing well and took a turn for the worst during the end of the pregnancy. She must have come seven or eight months into it because the baby was born soon after she returned."

"I was being trained as a medicine woman at the time, by Ti'ada'li who was skilled in herbs and poultices. My mom insisted that I alone deliver the baby. Ti'ada'li was indignant but respected her wishes. When the day came my mother was in horrible shape. The pregnancy was killing her. She knew this too, and told me the story of what happened before she gave birth."

"She told me that when she left the tribe she traveled north and made her way to the territory of Alaska. I'm not sure what drew her there, but that's where she ended up. It was here that during the dark phase of Alaska's solar cycle, she met a young man who she said she fell in love with. They had a remarkable time together even though he was so much different from the other men she had met in her life, including my father."

"Alaska's dark phase began to change into its light phase - the time of the year when the sun never sets. This man revealed his secret to my mom, that he was a cold one. She said she wasn't even scared, although I find that hard to believe. I guess she might have not wanted to go back to the depression she felt after my father's death."

"She told him she didn't care and wanted to be with him. Apparently that night they were together physically for the first time. At that point I'm not sure what happened, labor began and her strength was fast giving out. I can surmise that she got pregnant and for some reason returned here. Perhaps her lover wanted no part in a child. I'm afraid those reasons are lost to the dustbin of history."

"She made me promise to take care of little Zachary - that was the name she chose. She was certain it was a boy since she didn't have pain like this when she was pregnant with me. I agreed, despite my better judgment. But I was 16, what was I supposed to do?" At this point Carol was looking past Jacob with an emptiness in her eyes, reliving the distant past.

"For a few weeks after Zachary's birth the tribe became very anxious as a whole. There was just something in the air. The men of the tribe were becoming more aggressive. Thanks to my training with Ti'ada'li, my interest in the tribal lore, and my knowledge of what Zachary was, I knew, or at least suspected, that the old magic was awakening in our tribe's blood by his presence. I feared for both his safety and mine and so I left. I told the tribal elders that I was leaving to bring Zachary to his father. I lied and said our mother had given me information to track him down before her death. They blessed my leaving and wished for me to hurry back."

"I didn't know what I was going to do at first. Zachary had developed fast the first few weeks of his life in the tribe but his development seemed to speed up even faster as I traveled north. After a few months of listlessly traveling between towns, performing odd jobs for money to get by, he was already acting like a seven or eight year old child. We never could stay in one place too long since he grew so fast."

"By the time a year had passed he was basically a young teenager. He turned out to be quite capable of looking after himself. Finally, after much discussion and at his prodding, we traveled back south toward the reservation. He had decided that he could stay north of the reservation, far enough as to not awaken the tribe's spirit warriors but close enough that I could come visit. Since my work required an extensive use of herbs and plants, it would be easy to devise excuses to travel in that direction to visit as often as I wanted."

"He built this hut that I live in now and survived easily in the forest here, hunting deer and other game. I would bring books about the arts and sciences from our school and stories about our tribe's legends when I'd visit. Eventually I moved here to live with him after the death of my own husband." Carol sighed, she seemed to be finished with the story. The distant look in her eyes subsided and she blinked a few times. She took in Jacob again with another look, almost as if she had forgotten who he was and was appraising him for the first time.

Jacob's curiosity was mostly placated, but he asked, "So where does Zack stay then, after you moved in?"

"Mostly in the forest, although the room you're staying in tonight is his," she replied.

"Oh," said Jacob, "I can stay on the couch or outside and he can have his bed." Jacob didn't want to impose.

Carol chuckled, "I really don't think he minds." She waved her hand in the direction of Zachary on the couch. "He's already fast asleep. Besides, he doesn't get much interaction with people, so you being here is a rare treat for him."

With that, Jacob yawned. "Goto bed son. I'm tired myself." And with that Carol, swiftly for a woman her age, made her way through the small room to the door that led to her own bedroom.

It was only a few minutes later as Jacob sat there in silence on the couch, digesting all that she had told him and watching Zachary sleep. He yawned. He too was tired, more mentally than anything from the day.

Jacob got up and walked over to where Zack was sleeping soundly. He grabbed the shaw that was draped over the back of the couch and unfolded it over the sleeping body. "Half blood-suckers have to stay warm too I guess," he said quietly. With that he headed over to the room Carol had shown him earlier and plopped down into the bed. It was only as he was falling asleep that he realized that he had forgotten to ask Carol about the strange wolf.


	3. Chapter 2

**** **The next chapter, enjoy. Please email me any typos or things that don't make sense; each of these uploads has only had **

** a single revision! faterowen_at_. I'm working on the next chapter, but this semester is pretty brutal. I'm hoping to have **

** it out sometime in April. Feel free to email me motivation to squeeze in more time working on it. :) **

* * *

><p><strong>New Beginnings<strong>

(a Twilight fan-fiction work)

_Chapter 2_

Jacob woke with a start, more because of the rumble in his stomach than anything. The air was filled with the smell of bacon and eggs, potatoes and toast. He took a minute to appraise his surroundings, letting the sleep induced fog clouding his head fade as he remembered where he was. He rolled out of bed and tossed back on his shirt before wandering out to the kitchen area.

Carol sat at the small table with a cup of strong smelling coffee. Zachary was hovering over the stove and a wide assortment of pans. "So he cooks," Jacob said. Zachary shot him a sly smile and Carol chuckled.

"Actually, I think this might be the first time I've ever seen him cook something," she said amused. "It must be a special occasion or something!" With that Zack shot Carol a sharp glare.

"Cooking is easy," he said while trying to figure out to fit all of the potatoes he had cut up into the skillet. "I've watched you do it for years."

The clock on the wall said it was a little after six in the morning. "Are you two always up this early?" Jacob asked as he stifled a yawn.

"Mostly," Zack replied. "I only sleep a few hours a night if I sleep at all. I've been up since about one this morning." Half breeds needed some sleep, like humans, but much less.

"I usually wake up early too, although not that early. Once the sun is up I can't help it!"

"I take it you're not much of a morning person are you Jacob?" Zack asked.

"Nah. I'm a night creature. I run with wolves." Jacob grinned at what he thought was a clever joke but Carol only smirked and Zack seemed to be devoting the entirety of his attention fighting with a half flipped pancake.

"You better be hungry, spirit warrior, I think Zack has tried to make up all of the food in the kitchen."

"It was going to go bad anyway, you never eat much breakfast," Zack added matter-of-factly. "And how often do we have a visitor?"

"Do you two keep livestock around or something?" asked Jacob, glancing both curiously and hugrily at the eggs that Zach was adding to the skillet.

"Oh no, I head into the market every week. Sometimes Zack goes into town but its usually just safer for me to go. I take the hides we keep from his hunting and sell them to the tannery. The money isn't that great, but we don't really have many bills. Just a new bottle of propane every now and again and some gas for the generator when we need it," answered Carol.

"And eggs, and bacon and such," added Zack. "I think we usually have more venison or bear meat than she can handle." He grinned at this, clearly proud to be providing for his big sister. Jacob almost chuckled at the thought. Carol was easily 70 years old and Zack looked about 15. She seemed more like a grandmother than a sister.

Jacob was familiar with the Cullen's eating habits and was curious about Zack's. He hesitated at first but decided to ask anyway, "So what do you usually, uh, eat, Zack?"

Zachary swallowed and glanced down to his feet. He was clearly uncomfortable. "Well, you know, I don't eat very much, I'm not always hungry," he said, obviously avoiding the question.

"Blood, mostly, Jacob," Carol answered for him. "Not human blood, mind you," she added in quickly. "Larger game animal mostly. Sometimes he eats a bit of solid food with me, usually for special occasions. Like when we celebrate a birthday. Or, in my case, mourn one." She gave a wide gap-tooth grin at this.

"Like this morning," Zachary blurted out quickly, "because today we're going to help Jake, right sister?" Jacob took note of Zachary shortening his name and found it amusing. He sounded a lot like a kid testing it out, seeing if he gets in trouble over it. Zach reminded Jacobs so much of Renesmee. And with that thought, a flood of emotions retuned like a punch to his gut. He had to remind himself why he was here.

"We're going to try." An air of seriousness returned to Carol, replacing the playful nature of the morning. "I'm...I'm not exactly sure how it will work with you Jacob. It might be difficult. You have to make sure you're ready to face these feelings directly."

Jacob nodded. He didn't really understand what she meant, but he was ready to take any chance or risk. The pain had devastated him. Except for the past half a day he spent with these two, he had been miserable. Carol and even Zachary - the blood-sucker be damned - made it more bearable somehow. Its almost as if their simple lifestyle, Carol's grandmother like aura and Zach's child-like charm was a soothing balm on his soul. Balm or not, the pain was still there, just dulled. Last night was the first time he didn't dream about Renesmee in a long time, but it hadn't been long after being awake that he had been reminded of her.

"I'll be ready for it. If anyone can help me I know you can. I don't know how I know this this," he said. "But I just have a feeling," he added quietly.

"I'll do the best I can," said Carol, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"And me too!" piped in Zack. Jacob grinned despite himself. Zack's enthusiasm was contagious even if somewhat out of place.

"What's on the agenda today then? How should I prepare and, well, how exactly do we do this," Jacob asked.

Carol responded, "the ritual itself will be done tonight. There is a full moon tonight, so the magic that runs in the Quileute blood should be strongest. We'll need that if we're to have any hope of breaking the imprinting bond. Until then there isn't much I need either of you to do. I'll spend the day preparing. It's fairly delicate work and has to be done by my hand. Actually, I'll send you two off so you don't get in the way. Zack can show you around if you want," she said matter-of-factly.

At that same moment Zachary brought over two heaping plates filled with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, toast, and potatoes, one for each of them. "I can't eat all this," Carol exclaimed!

"I guess do your best then," Zachary answered simply. Jacob was eyeing the food. He hadn't really eaten in a while and was starving, and the food sure smelt good. "Go ahead and eat up Jake...there's more."

He didn't hesitate and dug right into the plate of food. It was probably his hunger more than anything, but it tasted great. In what seemed like moments his plate was empty and Zachary was already replacing it with a fresh one.

"You better watch out or you'll make someone a good wife someday," Jacob joked. Carol rolled her eyes and muttered something under he breath as she gingerly picked through the food on her plate.

"I dunno, I think it might get boring to do this every morning," Zack responded, missing the joke.

"That's why they have IHOP," Jacob chuckled.

"Whats an eye hop?" Zack asked curiously. Jacob realized that the closest one was in La Push, where it's possible Zack hasn't ever been. "Like a restaurant, but for pancakes and other breakfast food."

"Oh, I see," was all he said back.

"So what are we going to do today," Jacob asked Zack. "I gather your sister is throwing us out to get prepared for tonight, and I have no intention of getting in her way." Jacob displayed the most fearful looking face he could muster.

"It has been unseasonably warm for early fall, we could go swimming. Ozette lake is close to here and pretty remote. And there is a street festival going on today in Neah Bay."

Jacob could see out the window of the house that it was sunny. "But with the sun out..." he trailed off.

Zack looked at him with a puzzled expression and then a dawning of realization washed over him. He laughed, "That's funny, I don't burn up in sunlight, that's only in the old Dracula books!"

Jacob gave him an exasperated look. "The whole sparkling thing?"

"What are you talking about," Zack asked, confused.

"Vampires sparkle in the sunlight, like diamonds." Jacob thought for a second. "I guess Renesmee doesn't so maybe you don't?"

Zack gave him a shrug. "I don't sparkle or anything. I have a bit of a glow but thats about all. Mostly just looks like I have a tan. I guess its because my skin isn't very alabaster?"

"Why is that anyway," Jake inquired. "I thought maybe it looked less pale than I'd epect because it was dark out when I saw you. But now in the light I can see your skin tone is much darker than any of the vampires I know."

"Well, I don't know any other vampires," admitted Zack, "so I'm not really sure. This is just how I was born, I guess. And how many vampires do you know anyway?" asked Zach accusingly. Jacob laughed. "The less I try to know, the more that end up appearing in my life."

"Maybe we should go to the lake, and enjoy the weather before it turns into rain and cold," Jake added, changing the subject.

Zack agreed and Carol seemed glad to get the two out of her hair while she prepared for the night.

"Midnight is when we want to do the ritual. Just be back by then. There really isn't any preparation on your end. Oh and Jacob, just be ready to confront your feelings." Carol's words rang ominous in his ears, but he just nodded as she entered back into the house. He was waiting outside for Zack who came back around the outside of the house with a few bags.

"Here, we'll need to carry our clothing in these."

"Wait, how are we traveling? You're not planning to ride on me like some kind of pack mule, are you?" Jacob asked suspiciously.

Zack stared blankly at Jacob and then broke down laughing. Jake felt like a flushed some, not really understanding what he said that was so funny. "I'll go as a wolf too, although I could probably just run next to you. But I like how the forest smells that way better."

Jacob's mouth dropped. "You can change into a wolf?" A realization suddenly dawned on Jacob. "That wolf I saw in the woods. I meant to ask Carol about...that was you? You're a spirit warrior? But how is that even possible..." The trail of questions was probably a little much for anyone to answer all at once but Zack gave it a go.

"I can change into a bunch of different animals, and no, I'm not a spirit warrior...it's just something I can do I guess. I mean, Dracula changes into a bat, doesn't he?"

"Well, thats a story," replied Jacob lamely.

Zack gave him a sideways glance. "Well, it had to come from somewhere. Don't your vampire friends change? Oh and yeah the wolf was me, I thought you knew."

With suddenly everything laid out before him it did seem somewhat obvious - thanks in large part to the similarities in smells between Zach and Renesmee. But he hadn't really focused that much on the wolf and was far more worried about getting Carol to help with the imprinting at the time. "No, they can't change their shapes like our pack can - or you can apparently. Some of them can do some things though, like see the future and read minds. I guess some leac...vampires have, uh, talents."

Zachary shrugged, "I dunno, all I know is I can change into animals and its helpful when I hunt." And with that Zack pulled off his shorts and stuffed them into the bag in his hand. He glanced over at Jacob and said, "well lets go!" and promptly shifted into the small wolf Jacob had seen the day before. Zach grabbed the bag in his maw and bolted into the woods.

Jacob hurriedly followed him, pulling off his shirt and shorts - and hoping that Carol didn't happen by on accident - stuffed them into the bag quickly and phased. His wolf form was much bigger than Zack's and probably a lot faster. It was time for him to catch up.

The two got to the lake around late morning. The sun was high and bright almost glaring in the sky. The temperature was a warm sixty degrees, unheard of for this time of year. The lake, however, was seemingly empty. The lake itself is huge and locals were undoubtably taking advantage of the warm October weather around the normal camping areas miles away. But as far as they could tell, they had this part all to themselves.

The light from the sun reflected harshly off of the solid mirror like surface of the water. Jacob was almost hesitant about jumping in and suturing the placid waters. Zachary, on the other hand, had no such dilemmas.

"What are you waiting for," he intoned, as he scrambled up a tree and darted out over the lake by running across a branch. Within a split second he was hurdling to the water and made a huge splash - almost hitting Jacob, way back at the shore, with a small wave of lake water.

When Zack surfaced Jacob asked, "Arn't you worried someone will see us?". They hadn't brought swim suits and so had to swim in natural form.

"Nah. The water is too deep here at the shoreline. People usually go to the more southern side of the lake where the beach more gradually edges into the water. And the beaches up here are more unkept than south of here."

"What about boats?"

"We'd see them from pretty far off. Besides, can't you hear well?" Zachary asked with a triumphant smile. "They won't sneak up on us. And the boats are mostly fishing boats, which tend to do that at night anyway, not late morning."

Jacob blushed some, remembering how easy it was for Zachary to sneak up on him in the woods. He promised himself to be more vigilant during this day trip. But the mood affected by Zachary was contagious and against his better judgment he found himself relaxing some.

During the trip here Jacob had thought more and more about Renesmee. The distance from her had seemed to help at first but the longing grew stronger and stronger throughout the morning. He could feel the empty hollow sensation throughout his chest. The empty hole where he knew that she belonged.

"It's not even real," he told himself under his breath, reflecting on the imprinting. Zack, quit a far distance away from him in the lake, shot I'm a curious glance. "Damn," he thought to himself, "I forgot that the ticks had phenomenal hearing too."

"Did you say something Jake," Zack asked, shouting halfway across the lake.

"Just talking to myself," he replied. He then took a few steps back on the beach and sprinted as fast as he could toward the water. Right as he arrived at the water's edge he hurled himself up into the air and launched an impossible distance out away from the bank. Zack's mouth dropped open as he watched. The vampire was barely able to swim out of the way before Jacob flew down from the air and nearly landed on top of him.

"Hey!" Zachary chocked though a mouth filled with water. "Watch where you're jumping!"

Jacob didn't hear him since he was, at at point, completely submerged in the water. He surfaced laughing though, and the calm of the lake was destroyed as the water rippled and lapped in a directions as a result of the jump.

The water was chilly on Jacob's skin, but it was refreshing. He was hot after the several hour run that brought him here and the cool feeling was refreshing.

"This was a great idea," he breathed as he leaned into a backstroke.

"Yeah, I like to come here and think, and get away from things," Zack responded.

"Get away from what? You live in the middle of the forest." Jacob remarked as he chuckled.

Zack laughed himself. "OK, I guess I just like the water." He turned over quickly in the water and splashed right at Jacob, revenge for pointing out the obvious flaw in his logic.

"Oh so that's how you want to do it," Jacob said in a mock menacing nature as he swam over toward Zack raising his arm, readying a huge splash...

The two lay on the sandy part of the bank relaxing after frolicking around in the water for the better part of the late morning. Jacob could see now what Zachary had meant when he said he glowed a bit in the sun. With the sun high in the sky, right past it's zenith, Zachary's beige body glowed with a slight inner light. He looked radiant and Jacob was reminded of various beauty magazines he had seen all promising this type of glowing tan if you just bought their lotion for $39.99, plus shipping and handling. He assumed the price of becoming half vampire, if that is even possible outside of birth, would be too costly for most people.

Zachary noticed Jacob admiring his coloring. "You know, you can take a picture if you want. We do show up in them despite the legends." He snickered.

Jacob turned a bright red. "Uh, sorry, I mean, um, do you like dye your skin? Shouldn't you be pale?" he lamely responded.

"I'm told my mother was pretty dark skinned, must have gotten it from her. You already asked me that, anyway." He made this last remark as he tossed a small stone over the now placid lake, skipping it quite a distance.

"Yeah, it's just surprising I guess. But then again I've never known any vamps with dark skin to begin with. Except for this one leach we got - he was after Bella. But he had a much more ashy complexion. I guess you would too if you were a full blooded vampire." He then added, "No pun intended." Jacob was remembering when his pack caught Lamont, before the vampire was able to exsanguinate Bella. Laurant said he was doing Bella a favor since Victoria was after her, but Jacob wasn't quite sure how that was any better than Victoria's intentions.

Zachary peered over at Jacob quizzically, "I could probably get pasty white makeup if it would make you feel more comfortable."

With that Jacob laughed. "No, no. Its actually a good thing. Renesmee is kind of similar, although both of her parents are very pale so she is a bit more flushed to begin with." The thought of Renesmee brought up a flood of emotions in Jacob and he let his gaze fall to the distant forest.

Zack picked up on this, seeing a chain of expressions broadcast across Jacob's face. Jacob was never as stoic as Edward; he wore his heart on his sleeve as the expression goes. His feelings were plain to anyone looking at him, even if that person didn't have Edward's mind reading ability.

Suddenly Jacob felt something on his hand. Zachary had moved, silently, over next to him and took Jacob's hand in his own. The smaller boy's hand was about half the size of the larger Jacob's and surprisingly soft. "Its ok, my sister will help," said Zachary looking up wide eyed at Jacob's emotionally torn face. Jacob looked down into Zack's eyes which he noticed were a pale honey-green color. He also noticed that they looked deeply sad in their gaze up to him. He was grateful for the genuine sympathy as well as the absence of pity.

Jacob blushed. Here he was, sitting without his clothing on the beach of a lake with a naked half-vampire comforting him over unrequited love. "Thanks man," was all he said.

The two of them sat quietly on the beach for a few more minutes before Jacob got up to re-cloth himself. He felt like he should be less comfortable than he was, but with all the emotional strain of Nessie it was nice just to be able to relax.

"We should go up to Neah Bay," Zachary said as he moved to also dress himself. "The Makah tribe lives there and they have an annual celebration called the Makah Days which is going on this weekend, I believe. And they have canoe races!"

A smile fluttered across Jacob's lips. "Well I would race you, but its impolite to show up your host."

Zachary wore a feigned indignant expression. "I was going to let you win, but not anymore!"

Jacob laughed. "How far is it from here?"

"Just a few miles really, we should be able to get there quickly. Faster in wolf form but we do have time to kill. We're not expected back until midnight."

With a sigh Jacob nodded. "Ok then, lets start walking." The two of them left the beach and headed north into the surrounding wooded area. They found a newer but worn trail which they took north toward Neah Bay.

"When...when did you fall in love with this Renesmee," Zack asked cautiously, not really sure of the bounds of their budding friendship.

Jacob looked over at his smaller companion. "When I first laid my eyes on her. I was actually going into the house after her birth to... well, to kill her."

Zachary started and nearly tripped as he walked, though he managed to catch himself. "Why would you do that," he demanded.

"Because she was born of a vampire and a human. The pack couldn't let her live."

"Then you would have tried to kill me," Zack stated matter-of-factly.

Jacob was somewhat chastised. He reached over and put his arm around Zachary. "A lot has changed over the past seven years. We know a lot more than we do now. The pack doesn't see the Cullens - including Renesmee - as any real threat anymore. There is a wary truce with them and the treaty between our two people holds." Jacob knew that Zachary's observation was likely true, however. With no imprinting to save him, the pack would have made short work out of the newborn.

Zachary shook his head. "Why was there ever a problem to begin with? Did the Cullens ever hurt our people?"

It was strange in some ways to hear Zack refer to the Quileute as his people. This was the tribe that had passed judgment on who he was, though no fault of his own, before they knew anything about what half breeds are like. Jacob wondered why Zack even identified with them.

"No." Jacob smirked, "well, one of them, Edward, stole my girl."

"Edward stole Renesmee?"

"Bella. Edward stole Bella from me. Edward and Bella are Renesmee's parents."

Zachary looked a little confused. "So you liked the mom, then you liked the daughter...after you went to kill her?" He thought for a moment then looked up at Jacob who still had his arm around Zack's shoulders. "You know, you're a strange man," he said conclusively.

Jacob chuckled. "I'm complicated, what can I say."

"I guess so," Zachary said as he leaned in closer to Jacob's body to offer emotional support. Jacob found it surprisingly pleasant, the cool skin of the vampire pressed up against his blazing hot body.

"Ten years ago if someone would have told me how wrapped up I would be with vampires I would have thought they were crazy. I didn't even believe vampires or werewolves or shape shifters or whatever even existed. And here I am, walking to a tribal festival with my arm around one vampire preparing to try to get a mystical connection to another one broken."

"Well. You _are_ complicated after all," Zack muttered.

Jacob looked down at him and ruffled his hair. "Yeah? You better watch it kid," he joked to his companion who was about forty years his senior. Zachary just smiled.

Much of the rest of the journey was silent as both of the two remained lost in their thoughts. After about an hour the two arrived at the outskirts of Neah Bay. Up ahead they could see the small town forming and, even at this distance, they could hear some of the traditional tribal songs emanating from ahead.

"Whenever I come up this way I like going to the museum. We should go."

Jacob nodded. He didn't have any particular agenda planned aside from maybe entering the canoe races. Even though this area was even closer to his reservation than Port Angeles he had never travelled up this way.

Zachary took Jacob by the hand and began to lead him toward a white building up ahead in the distance. Jacob had already become accustomed to Zack being much more physical than most vampires he knew. Except for Renesmee who often desired contact in order to communicate through her unique ability to share thoughts and images through the skin. Full vampires were cold, having no blood of their own or a system to warm their bodies. Half breeds, on the other hand, still had blood running through their veins and so had a cool but believably human temperature.

He didn't think much of Zachary leading him by the hand until he noticed looks from a few of the people who walked passed them. He realized that the two of them made an odd pair and that it was probably not very common in this small community to see two men holding hands. "Well", he joked to himself, "apparently TVs are uncommon here."

After a few minutes they arrived at the front of the building. Zachary led Jacob in through the front doors into an entryway. A woman with a traditional headdress sat behind a counter. She perked up when she saw Zachary.

"Zachary, I haven't seen you in a while now! I thought you forgot about us," she said.

Zack flashed her a big grin. "Of course not Hazel! I haven't been up this way in a few months now. I brought a friend with me, Jacob here." Zack gestured towards Jacob. "Another Quileute coming to learn about your tribe's history," he said while grinning.

"Oh wow, he's a big one," she said, batting her eyes flirtatiously in Jacob's direction. Jacob blushed a bright shade of red.

Zachary didn't seem to notice. He was busy fishing around in one of his cargo pockets. Finally he came up with what he was looking for, a few five dollar bills. "Here you go Hazel, we're going to go ahead and look around," he said as he gave her the money to cover the admission fee. "Are you going to the festival at all?"

"Yeah," she replied, "once I get off work here. Are you going to come?" she asked hopefully while glancing sideways at Jacob.

"We're thinking about it," Zack said, taking note of the look. "We need to be back south tonight, but hopefully we can catch some of the festivities. Jake here thinks he can beat me in a canoe race."

"I certainly can," Jacob said smugly.

"Yeah you wish."

"I'd love to see that race," Hazel said. "I should warn you though Jake that Zack is surprisingly fast. I'm not sure exactly how he does it, but he seems to win every year." Jacob knew exactly how he did it. Despite his smaller although well muscled frame, he had unnatural strength from his vampire heritage.

"Well I'm faster," Jacob replied in a well practiced cocky fashion. "It was nice meeting you Hazel." He added this quickly as Zack started pulling him toward the exhibits.

"You too Jake. I hope to see you again," she said longingly. The two walked into the room that buttressed the entry way. The room was large and well lit, filled with various treasures, all accompanied by stories written out for visitors to read.

"Made a new friend, didn't we?" Zack asked.

Jacob smiled, "What? You're not jealous now are you?" Zachary ignored the question and moved over to the first display.

Held in its case was what appeared to be a leather made saddle covered in yellowed bu still sharp teeth. Jacob looked at it oddly.

"Those are sea otter teeth," Zack explained. "Apparently it's a whale saddle. I'm not sure if they actually used to try to ride whales but whales were important for the tribe many years ago."

"How old is it," Jacob asked? "It's remarkably well preserved," he added after noting it was around 500 years old according to the plaque.

"Thirty or so years ago a storm uncovered a village that was buried in a landslide half a century ago. The tribe and one of the universities around here recovered many of the artifacts in this museum. It's kind of like a window to the past. That's why I like to come here."

"Even though this isn't your tribe?"

Zachary looked over at Jacob with a patient expression. "This tribe doesn't have the same legends of the 'Cold Ones' and so it's safer for me. Besides, everyone here thinks I come up visiting from the Quileute reservation. If I actually went there no one would know me and would instantly be suspicious."

Jacob nodded. Zachary was probably right with this. Since this tribe was close in proximity to their own Quileute tribe, many of the customs and legends were bound to be similar and Zach would get much of the same experience. Without the feeling of belonging, however.

The two moved on to the next exhibit. They were in a rather large room and in it were several restored canoes.

"These were some of the canoes used by our ancestors to hunt whales - one of the main sources of both food and resources for our tribe." Jacob was surprised to hear Hazel's voice right behind him.

"Oh, hey. Do we get a guided tour now," Zack half joked.

Hazel smiled. "We're actually going to shut down early it turns out. In another hour or so," she added hastily seeing Zachary's crestfallen look. "So you'll still be able to see the rest of the museum."

"What's with the early closing," Jacob asked.

"Normally we'd stay open for another few hours, but the festival elders have decided to move up the canoe races. They are worried that it might storm this evening when they were planned. For the Makah this wouldn't be much of a problem" She hedged here. "But... there are a lot of people from out of town, and someone getting hurt would be bad new for us."

"So the races are going to start in about an hour then?" Jacob asked.

"Yup," Hazel replied. "I wanted to come in and let you know since you mentioned before."

Zack shot Hazel a disarming smile. "Thanks. So should we go enter Jake? The museum is open all year, we can come back some other time. I don't want to miss the races!" Zach looked rather excited.

Jacob gave Zach a bemused look. "You're that excited to get your butt handed to you? Alright, lets go then and enter." Zack scowled.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"I think I can handle myself," Jacob replied.

The two said their goodbyes to Hazel and exited the museum. They went toward the center of the village where there were an assortment of outdoor activities going on, taking advantage of the uncommonly nice weather while it lasted.

In short order they came across the canoe race sign-ups. "Ok, this is your last chance to back out Jakie-boy," Zachary shot at Jacob mockingly.

Jacob just let out an indignant sigh and headed straight for the sign up sheet. "There arn't a lot of names on here," he said questioningly, eying the old man watching over the list.

"Yeah," he responded to Jacob's implied question. "The weather looks to be bad tonight, although no one is sure exactly when the storm will hit. Its likely to make the ocean rough long before we see a drop of rain on land though. People are nervous about it."

"I don't think that will stop us Lenny," Zachary said. "I still plan on winning again this year no matter what the sea is like."

Lenny scowled but said begrudgingly, "Well if last year is any indication, you'll have a good chance this one too."

"Not when I'm gonna win," shot in Jacob. Zachary rolled his eyes in the larger man's direction.

"Whatever."

"You two be careful though, the sea can get rough real fast. Just meet over at the docks in about thirty minutes or so. They'll call your names and get you on your way. The course is a little different this year, Zachary, so make sure you're paying attention to the directions." Lenny gave Zack a stern glare. Jacob chuckled as they walked away toward the docks.

"I don't think that guy likes me much," Zachary said, innocently.

"What did you do to him?" Jacob asked.

"His son was favored to win last year and I beat him." Zack grinned widely.

"I see," Jacob replied.

Soon the two were at the docks waiting and could see all the hasty preparation for the race. The sky was darkening, partially because of the impending storm and partially because it the sun was beginning to set.

"I don't think the storm will make it to shore until well after midnight, but I bet the bay is going to start getting choppy soon," Zack observed. Jacob agreed, having seen this numerous times in La Push.

Just then Zachary heard his name called followed quickly by Jacobs. "I guess they're getting ready to sail, lets go get our canoes." The two moved toward the voice that calling out names and came across one of the tribe elders. As the boys got to that side of the docks, they saw people being paired up, two to a canoe.

"It would kind of defeat the purpose of racing if we get paired on the same canoe," Zack observed in sudden realization.

"That would be the most certain way for you to win," Jacob casually observed. Zack shot him a sharp glance but didn't say anything. The elder motioned for Jacob and waved over Hazel. "Oh, hey. Are we pairing up?" Jacob asked her, confused.

"Yeah, so it turns out," she said innocently. "I hope you are as good as you think you are," she grinned. "Have you ever used a canoe before?"

Jacob shrugged, "I've been on a few." He felt slightly uncomfortable at the way she batted her eyelashes at him. He wasn't exactly sure that the pairing of the two of them was completely random.

Zachary was put with a lanky teenage fellow. He looked to be perhaps in his final year of high school and had the trademark black hair that the native people in this region all seemed to have. The boy gave Zack a rather large and welcoming smile when he was told of their pairing and Jacob felt a twinge of jealousy shoot through him, which surprised him.

Hazel grabbed Jacob by the arm - by the bicep he noticed - and practically drug him over toward their canoe. She wasn't really able to drag the much larger Jacob, but he allowed himself to be led, all the while keeping his eyes on the tall lanky fellow hovering around Zach barely containing his excitement.

She noticed Jacob watching him. "Oh thats just Ethan," she said. "He isn't much into canoe racing. His dad makes him do this every year. He isn't anyone to worry about. We've got this in the bag!" She seemed excited, although Jacob couldn't tell if it was because of their chances of winning, or the fact she was leading him into a small canoe with her.

The canoe they were assigned was well built, no doubt thanks to Hazel's apparent connections. It was large enough for the big man and Hazel to fit into it comfortably, although there was not very much spare room. "I'll take the front," she said, eyeing his arms. "You take the back. You'll be able to give us more power than I would, so I'll steer while you push us." The front paddler in the canoe was able to steer the boat more than the back paddler, whose main job was to provide propulsion.

Jacob nodded in agreement while looking over toward Zachary. Ethan and Zachary were climbing into their canoe and would shortly get themselves over to the starting point. He also noticed it was getting darker out. Dusk had come. This was less of an issue for him than for a regular human, given that he was able to see very well in low lighting thanks to his shifting ability. The sun clung to the sky and hugged the sea as it prepared to set, bathing the entire area in an almost eerie orange glow. Even more surreal and menacing were the dark clouds looming off in the distance. In fact, it was difficult to see the sun setting at all thanks to the rather thick and low lying cloud cover drifting silently just over the horizon of the ocean.

"How far do we go," Jacob asked Hazel, thinking that he had stayed quiet too long to be considered polite already. He forced himself to turn to her as he said this, observing that she was settling neatly into the canoe.

"Its not too far, and I think it might be shortened some because of the storm coming in," she answered. Hazel waved a backhand at the ocean, "You can already see the sea getting rough."

With that, Jacob noticed for the first time that the sea was not calm and was rather choppy. Not dangerously so, but this would certainly add another element to the race. The two teammates maneuvered their canoe over to the starting area where just about everyone had amassed. Hazel, grinning broadly, waved over into the crowd. There was a nervous anticipation in the air and many of the contestants looked almost eager to get this over with before the sea grew even worse.

"May the best team win," Zachary called over to Jacob. Zach and Ethan had brought themselves next to Jacob and Hazel's canoe.

"Don't worry, we will," Jacob replied with a large grin. With that Hazel's grin was almost unbearable as she held on to Jacob's arm. Zachary rolled his eyes and fiddled into position at the back of the boat.

"We've got this in the bag," Hazel announced. "There is no way he can paddle faster than we can. You're so much stronger than him!" She took another opportunity to feel Jacob's muscles, something of which he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with. Bella never tried to touch him this much, although he felt like he would have been more welcoming to her touch.

With regard to Hazel's confidence, Jacob was less sure than she was. Vampires were strong - even half breeds. Renesmee was incredibly strong compared to what you would expect by looking at her. When he was phased, Jacob's strength matched that of nearly any vampire that he came across. Though he was still supernaturally strong in his human form, he wasn't much of a match for a vampire, even though his pride may argue differently.

Jacob turned to Hazel and asked, "Are you ready for this?" She brightened up considerably since he made an effort to do more than just respond to her.

"Yeah...we're going to win!" she repeated. Jacob smiled. He wish he had her confidence.

Jacob took hold of the worn but sturdy oar that he would use to bring them across the finish line. It was cracked in a number of places, though the edges were smooth from the exposure to the ocean and continuous use. He turned to the shore watching the officials frantically run about. They were really trying to get this up and running quickly.

"Ok racers," said a deep voice to Jacob's right. He looked over and saw two older Makah men in a canoe. They had paddled out in front of the group of contestants. The shorter of the two was up on his kneed cupping his hands to his mouth like a megaphone to make himself heard. "You're going to listen for the gun shot and that'll signal you to start the race." The man was almost awkward about giving the brief directions but that could have been because of the increasingly violent sea. Jacob and /Hazel were ready though. Both had their oars out gently caressing the tip of each wave as they crossed while they waited for the controlled explosion from the gun to launch into full force.

Zachary looked poised to start the race too, Jacob thought when he glanced to his left and peered at the boat that Zack and the teenager were occupying. Zack had a half grin on his face and Jacob wondered if he knew that Jacob was looking over at him. The vampire was leaning forward grasping his oar. Ther was an eager look in his face as his body took an impatient position.

Hazel glanced back at Jacob every few seconds smiling. He wished she would focus more on the competition and stop doing that though. Over in Zach's canoe, Ethan shook slightly in nervous anticipation, paying no attention to the other contestants or his partner.

The shot of the gun echoed across the darkening expanse of sky, and the canoes were off. Jacob focused even more as he reacted, plunging his paddle into the water and lurching the canoe forward.

"Common, common, paddle faster," shrieked Hazel as she realized that they had been beat by a split second in starting. She shifted her paddle in and out of the water with practiced efficiency, steering the boat primarily but also giving some additional momentum.

Jacob was amazed at the speed of the other canoes. He was certainly stronger than the other men rowing throughout the small fleet. But many of them made up for lack of strength with skill and experience. He had canoed before, but not raced, and he was by no means an expert.

The sea was becoming rougher by the minute as the offshore storm drew closer to land. Jacob noticed that Hazel was having a hard time steering the canoe as it was getting battered with small, but not insignificant, waves. He pushed the oar harder each time he drove it into the water. His muscles flexed and bulged under the strain.

They pulled away slightly from the pack of contenders, close to Zack's canoe. The lead that these two boats had against the rest of the field was tenuous - a tribute to the skills of the Makah competitors that they were essentially able to keep up with the shape changer and a half vampire.

The waves continued to worsen, although the end of the course was in sight. The tribe had decided to reduce the distance knowing better than anyone how unforgiving the ocean can be once a storm sets in.

Out of nowhere, a large wave crashed into Jacob's canoe. It was all he and Hazel could do to keep the canoe right-side up. The wave battered the canoe spraying cold water and foam across the bodies of both Jacob and Hazel, drenching them from head to toe. Both held on to the canoe and managed to prevent the boat from flipping. The wave, however, wasn't finished with its rampage as it picked up additional strength from a swell and descended upon Zachary's canoe.

Zack's partner, less experienced in canoe racing than the rest of the competitors, stared aghast at the wave as it approached them, dropping his oar. Zachary saw his partner freeze up and lurched at Ethan, grabbing hold of him and bracing him against the bottom of the canoe as the wave hit the vessel. Their canoe however, was less fortunate than Jacob's had been. It capsized.

Jacob was startled, and frantically paddled his canoe over to the area where Zach's boat collapsed, over Hazel's objections. He looked around the very dark water for a sign of either of the boys. Seeing nothing, Jacob grabbed hold of the boat and flipped it back over to its correct position revealing a very wet and scared looking Ethan. Zack was no where to be seen.

The waves continued to worsen by the second and most of the other canoes had either pivoted back to shore or had made it past the wreck, moving toward the course's finish line.

"Jacob, keep paddling, we're going to loose!" Hazel shouted as Jacob dropped his oar and scanned the waters again. A split second later Jake leapt from the canoe into the violently churning water. He held his breath and dove under the water frantically looking around for Zachary. His vision in low lighting was excellent which served him well as he attempted to search through the nearly opaque sea water.

He saw the vampire sinking through the water down below him. Zack was shaking his head slowly as he gently drifted in a current - a sharp contrast to the raging storm above him. He looked like he was trying to get his bearings. Jacob dove further down. He reached Zach and wrapped his left arm around the vampire's chest from behind. Zach was solidly built, but Jacob benefited from both his strength and the adrenaline coursing through his body. He pulled Zach upward toward the surface.

The two broke the surface of the water near the boat where Ethan still clutched tightly onto the canoe. The ocean continued to crash into the boat and the waves continued to gain strength from the storm's inland movement, even though it had yet to hit them directly.

Jacob hurled Zack onto the canoe in a single big throw, and grabbed hold of the front edge of the boat. e pulled the canoe with all of his strength, wishing he had spent more time improving his swimming skills during those warm summer months over the past several years.

Jacob was not worried about finishing the race at this point. Hazel's canoe was nowhere to be found and he hoped that the girl had enough sense to have paddled in toward the shore.

He fought against the waves dragging the canoe with him with strength born of both adrenalin and his natural shifting ability. Finally, after what seemed like hours to the shifter, but was really only a few minutes, he felt the solid like consistency of sand under his feet. Turning around with his back facing the shore, he grabbed the canoe and with both hands pulled it violently onto the shore. He then collapsed.

Zack was instantly next to tJacob's side, tracing his fingers across Jacob's thick neck, feeling for a pulse. Apparently satisfied by what he felt, he bent over placing his ear close to Jacob's pale lips listening for breath. Ethan scrambled out of the canoe in a panic long after Zach had made his way to their savior in an unnaturally fast manner.

"Is he..is he...OK?" Ethan asked in a near screech.

Zachary looked up, completely waterlogged and more pale than normal. "Yeah. He's just exhausted from fighting the current. He'll be fine, he just needs a few minutes to rest."

As if on cue, Jacob suddenly stirred. His breathing was less ragged then when Zach reached the shore and his chest rose and fell deeply. His eyes fluttered open. He felt sore from head to toe. "Man, I'm hungry," he said in a near whisper. He turned to his side as he felt a rush of liquid churn through his stomach and travel up his neck. He vomited ocean water and abruptly went through a fit of coughing, choking even more water out of his system.

Ethan looked worried but Zachary just rubbed JAcob's back, gently patting him to help expel the last of the sea water from his lungs. A number of Makah tribe members had made it over at this point both worried and curious about what happened.

"He's OK, don't worry," Zack answered their slew of questions. "Jacob just pulled us in by hand, the poor guy is just a little worn out is all." Jacob smiled. "I think he drank too much of the bay," Zach added in a tone both teasing and concerned.

"I'm fine, really. Just had to catch my breath." He grinned broadly at the tribe members who smiled back and cheered. Zack helped him to his feet although he probably could have stood up fine on his own, more or less. But he accepted Zach's help.

"Well good, everyone is alright. We probably should have canceled the race altogether this year," a short stocky man dressed in tribal regalia intoned. "But no matter, we have our winners and everyone is safe. We can move on to our last event before the storm hits us here! We're gonna get rained out, so might as well have some fun with it!"

After the canoe races the Makah days festival had traditional dancing to honor the winners of the race while also celebrating the tribe's heritage. This year they were performing the Seagull dance, among others.

The Seagull dance is a fast paced dance where the dancers try to imitate how a seagull would move on an unstable log, increasing their pace as the drum beats speed up.

Jacob and Zachary moved in toward the already roaring bonfire, still drenched from the sea. The fire in the center of town blazed with an intense heat which was almost overwhelming to Jacob.

"Are they burning everything in town," Jacob remarked at the flames sarcastically.

Zach looked over at him. "No. No, I don't think they actually burn anything from the town. I think the wood is collected from the forests around here." Jacob rolled his eyes. Zachary didn't quite get that the question was rhetorical.

As the two moved closer to the near inferno, Hazel appeared out of seemingly nowhere to ambush them.

"Oh I'm glad to see you both are ok," she said, without even making an effort to look at Zachary. "We lost the race though Jacob. I think you owe me a dance for that!"

Jacob blushed and stammered, "Uh... well, yeah, ok." He was put off by her aggressive nature. Zachary looked over at Jacob curiously as Hazel, who was beaming, scurried back toward the bonfire ahead of them.

"Ugh. I promised her we'd win," Jacob said in way of explanation. When Zachary shot him a questioning glance Jacob just responded by raising his shoulders and arms and giving a sort of 'oops' expression on his face. Zack both shook his head and rolled his eyes with a sigh.

The two had now made it to the ring of celebration around the fire and they heard the rhythmic striking of the drums and the humming of the elders. There were a number of Makah who were singing, although the actual words were lost on the two visitors. The music took a very melodic tone but had a deep base, seductively inviting them to dance.

Hazel, once again appearing from nowhere, grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him toward where a large group of people were dancing. He was almost completely dry now thanks to a very high running body temperature. Zachary looked on, still soaked to the bone, drying at a painfully slow rate thanks to his low body temperature. Jacob, with a glance back at him, hoped he would move closer to the fire to dry. "Although, I guess it doesn't matter if he is dry or wet," he thought to himself. "It isn't like he'll catch a cold. Why am I even worried anyway?" he berated himself. His inner monolog about his new companion and key to ending his imprinting on Nessie was interrupted as Hazel nearly swung him around to get him to start dancing.

"Wake up Jake," she said accusingly. "We're dancing! Keep your mind on me!" She said this last statement with a sly grin which Jacob did his best to return. He hadn't even realized they had begun dancing while he was fretting over Zachary being wet from his ordeal in the bay.

"I'm not much of a dancer," Jacob warned her. This was apparent as he awkwardly moved his body around, trying to bounce with the beat of the drums but not quite getting the timing down right. Hazel giggled.

"It's alright," she said reassuringly. "I'm having fun! That's what this is about anyway."

Jacob nodded at her. He wasn't really enjoying this but he wanted to play along. She kept on brushing up against him and at some points was nearly dancing right on top of him. He hoped his embarrassment wasn't as obvious to her as it felt to him. He glanced around the circle and saw a number of couples dancing and laughing and also noted a number of other girls on the periphery of the dancing circle looking in at them in a very jealous manor. He was beginning to feel very self conscious.

The drums picked up their pace significantly and the singing grew stronger. Hazel, along with everyone else around Jacob, had picked up the pace, their feet moving in a haphazard manor up and off the ground, neatly flicking out in front of them and crashing back to where they started. Many of the dancers held their arms high or kept them out to the side for balance as the pace quickened. Jacob did the best he could to mimic those around him, quickly earning a number of amused looks and chuckling from Hazel. Hazel, for her part, turned out to be a very talented dancer, always seeming to know exactly when she should move her body, maneuvering her hips through every dance sequence in well practiced form.

After what seemed like forever to Jacob of the drums fervently increasing in speed and intensity they suddenly slowed. The dance, many panting exhaustedly, slowed to the new beat as the song changed.

There was a slight blur by Jacob that caught his attention. Zach had entered the dance circle. He moved far more elegantly than Jacob did as his movement matched the percussion of the song.

The drum rhythm was slower now and the singing sounded much more akin to a ballad than a chant. Zach danced with his eyes gently closed blotting out his surroundings. He danced alone, no one else in the circle feeling comfortable enough to approach judging from the glances he was getting. Many of them watched, including those outside of the dance area. Whether the hesitation was from Zach's personality, dance style, or his odd demeanor, Jacob didn't know. What he did know was that his dance was spectacular. And the shifter had no doubt that he wasn't the only person so moved.

Jacob's own dancing slowed even further as he watched Zachary's body writhe like a sea serpent, flowing with the music like a giant beast careening through the soft foam of a turbulent ocean. Hazel silently tried to direct Jacob's attention back to her but the shifter had grown tired of playing along with her flirtations. He just ignored her.

The song was short, much shorter than the fast paced dance that had given Hazel the opportunity to pull Jacob into the circle. The drums reached the song's obvious conclusion, broadcast by the emotionally imbued voices calling out to the darkness in a tongue few could understand.

As the song ended Zach stealthily slipped out of the dance circle, heading back toward the darkness further away from the blazing flames. The next song started immediately, never missing a beat, and the circle swelled with refreshed dancers excited by the faster upbeat pace and the threatening look of the sky almost daring them to have more fun. Jacob stole himself from the circle and headed after Zach. Hazel frowned at him, but he had grown tired of dancing and needed to talk with Zachary anyway. They should figure when they would leave and head back to Carol's hut.

Zachary had moved to the outside of the circle surrounding the blaze, not quite cloaked in darkness but further away then where most of the participants were. Jacob slid down next to him on the ground where he sat. The half-breed was still soaked; he obviously had not taken Jacob's silent advice to spend some time close to the fire to dry off. Jacob sighed and threw his arm around the smaller boy.

"You're still soaked. It looks kind of strange, we've been out of the water for a while now and you've even been dancing. People are going to get curious why you haven't dried out yet." Jacob felt the words ring hollow but he really couldn't be sure someone wouldn't notice and question. He repeated this concern in his head, to reassure himself. He didn't quite know what reassurance was needed, but within a few moments he was convinced Zach needed to dry off to prevent too many questions from the locals. Zachary remained silent and made no moves to dislodge Jacobs large and very warm arm.

Zachary's body temperature wasn't terribly cold, certainly not compared to a vampire. He would be rather cool to the touch, almost clammy, to a human that was in contact with him. To Jacob and his naturally high burning metabolism, however, he felt down right chilly. Not quite like Bella or Edward did; but cold none the less.

The two sat in silence for a moment, Jacob's body heat already working to dry out Zach's shirt. Suddenly, Zachary leaned in toward Jacob, resting his head against the larger man's shoulder.

"We should leave soon. Carol will be expecting us," Zach said matter-of-factly. Jacob just nodded.

"How long will it take us to go directly back there from here?" he asked.

"A few hours. We can travel pretty fast. We won't go quite the way we came up here, we'll take a much more direct route."

Jacob nodded, more to himself than to Zach. The two lapsed back into silence as they stared lost into the swirling flames of the bonfire. The sky, dark with menacing clouds, reminded the celebrants that their time tonight would be short. The winners of the canoe race had already collected their medals and much of the crowd was beginning to disburse even as the beating of the drums and the now solo musical voice rang throughout the square.

A rather large raindrop landed squarely on Zachary's nose, causing him to blink and sit up suddenly, rescued from mesmerization by the swirling flames. Jacob felt a few drops himself and like a failing damn the reality of what would be happening tonight flooded into his thoughts.

"Lets get going," Zach intoned as he began to get up from the earth. "We should move fast if we're going to try to outrun the storm". Jacob followed suit on autopilot. He was thinking about how much he missed Nessie and how surprisingly little she entered his mind during this trip, all things considered. The mixture of distance from her as well as the company he was keeping had him sufficiently distracted.

The two slipped back away from the celebrations into the shadows of the forest. After they had gotten an appropriately safe distance from the village, they packed their clothing into their handy backpacks and shifted into their animal forms.

A slight drizzle filled the air as they gathered up the backpacks in each's respective maul and started darting in a southern direction. Zachary led, in the same small ruddy orange wolf form that he took when he first met Jacob. Jacob, as a much larger wolf followed, trying harder than he was willing to admit to keep up with Zach.

The blackness of night enveloped them when they started moving further from the glowing bonfire behind them. Jacob was thankful for his wolf vision as he nimbly jumped over a weathered and exposed tree root. The two moved quickly and soon were able to outrun the slight drizzle that had started when they left the Makah. Lucky for the duo the storm was slow moving, even if it was strong.

The approaching storm left the forest cloaked in a deathly silence. Even at its darkest the forest would normally be teeming with life, at least to a wolf's ears. Jacob hardly noticed the silence, however. His thoughts were on the rest of the night ahead, where Carol would try to decipher tribal legends to figure out a way to break the imprinting that had taken hold of him when he first saw Renesmee.

Jacob was filled with a nervous anxiety. Even in his phased form he felt his muscles clench and his stomach churn as he continued to debate his decision. At the same time his chest hurt from thinking about Nessie, and remembering the longing he felt for her. The touch of her hand to his cheek to open her thoughts to him, or the embrace of her body against his as she celebrated some bit of good news.

If everything worked, he wouldn't feel this way anymore. He hadn't really thought about the consequences of his actions, but now being so close, or at least possibly close, he began to wonder what it would be like to wake up in the morning and think of her as nothing more than another person. In some ways it was scary. He had dedicated the past several years to her. He barely remembered a time before her. The feeling of love and passion that surged through his body at even just the thought of her might be gone - just like that.

CRACK! Just then Jacob was knocked back on his flank causing him to let out a yelp. He let out a loud groan groan - he was back in human form.

"What happened? Are you ok?" Jacob heard Zach calling frantically after a few short moments. Almost immediately after the words reached his ears the half-vampire was next to him finding him quickly in the dark forest.

"I.. I don't know." Jacob looked around. His vision wasn't as good as it would have been if he were still in wolf form, but he did have heightened senses even when un-phased. He could make out the outline of what appeared to be a broken low hanging tree branch sprouting out of a nearby oak tree.

Zach noticed the branch at about the same time. "You ran into a tree branch?" he asked questioningly. And before Jacob even had finished getting his bearings to answer, Zachary started laughing. Not a slight chuckle or a giggle, but a full throttled laugh.

Jacob scowled. "Its not funny." He pushed the smaller boy roughly away from his side. He felt foolish. He had in fact run into the branch, something that he should have been able to avoid even if he wasn't paying attention. Which he wasn't. His mind was so fixated on Nessie and what he was trying to do that his mind was much further afield than it should have been.

"Aww, I'm sorry," said a chastised Zachary. "Maybe we should just walk the rest of the way, we're almost there." Jacob glanced up at Zach.

"We're almost there? But we just left Neah Bay." He was puzzled.

"Well, we left around two hours ago," said a confused Zach. He raised an eyebrow at Jacob, although the shifter couldn't make that quite out in the dark. "Are you OK? Maybe you hit your head a little too hard on that tree there..." Zachary sounded genuinely concerned.

"No, no. I just... I just lost track of time I guess. I was thinking about things." Jacob sat straight up and began to dust himself off. After he hadstruck the branch he tumbled quite a bit through the dirt. "At least we seemed to have made record time and outran the storm," he added positively. He was quite ready to change the topic of the conversation from his strayed thoughts of Nessie.

"Yeah," Zachary agreed, taking the hint. "I'm not sure we won't see rain before everything is said and done tonight, but we at least won't get wet getting back home."

Zach moved to pull Jacob up to his feet. Jake wasn't thrilled about this help - his pride was already hurt - but he figured since he had already been curt with Zach just a few moment prior, he should accept the help.

The duo retrieved their backpacks and quickly dressed before they started back on their journey.

"I think we're about a half hour's walk from Carol," announced Zach as the two started on their way. "We'll get back with a bit of time to spare actually." Jacob nodded. He had totally lost track of time and so was reliant on Zach's senses. Although he assumed they were both relying on Zach's cell phone which had a clock on it. This made him feel a little better.

"What do you think the ritual will be like," Jacob asked Zachary after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever even seen her do a tribal ritual before, just mixing of tinctures and what not."

"She said that I should be prepared to confront my feelings, or something like that. I wonder what that means." Jacob had not really thought about it through the day. He had enjoyed himself and didn't want to ruin that with worrying about the night's ritural. But with the time creeping up on him, he couldn't put it out of his head.

Zachary shrugged. He had no insight into the workings of his sister and since this talk was feeding Jacob's brooding mood he decided to change the subject. "So, you thought I was going to drown in the canoe races, eh?"

Jacob blushed and was thankful for the cover of darkness. "Well, I dunno. I didn't really think about it, I guess you would have been alright. I reacted more on instinct."

"Good to know your instinct is to save me!" replied Zachary with a wide grin. "I would have thought it would have been to be the one to toss me in the water!" Jacob just let out a pfft sound, at a loss for words. "I think Hazel might have been just as happy if you stayed with her in the canoe instead of jumping out of it."

Jacob laughed despite himself. "Yeah. She was really forward."

"Didn't you think she was pretty?" Zach asked cautiously.

"I guess. I'm not sure she's really my type. The past couple of years my love interests have all revolved around vampires," Jacob replied with a note of bitterness. "Although in my defense, Bella wasn't one when I met her!"

Zach chuckled. "What about you Zach? I saw you giving sidelong glances at Hazel! How long have you known her?"

If the darkness of night wasn't cloaking the two, Jacob would have noticed an ever so slight pink color touch Zach's cheeks. But it was dark, and Jacob couldn't see this effect. "I've known her for a few years, although we've really only met a handful of times. She is a bit overbearing," Zach laughed. "I don't think she's my type."

Jacob glanced over curiously. "Then what is your type?"

Zachary pondered the questions and then answered, "I'm not sure. I only seem to know what isn't my type, not what is." Jacob thought he understood. He felt like he knew little of vampire related relationships, but he reminded himself that he'd been around quite a bit of them over the past number of years. And he saw the whole Edward and Bella scenario unwind before his very eyes.

The two were silent for the rest of the way back to Carol's hut. Jacob could tell when they were close since he could see the warm glow in the distance that was emanating from the lighting in the house.

"I guess its about time," he said, more to himself than to Zach. The half-vampire looked up at Jacob with a look of empathy. Neither knew what to expect. In the back of Jacob's mind he knew it was a long shot in a lot of ways. What he didn't want to think about was what options were left if this didn't work. Zachary only knew that Jacob would suffer sudden bouts of emotional distance during their short time together, and he felt sad that the shifter had to go through this.

Carol was waiting outside of the hut, gazing at the sky which was solidly cloaked in clouds. No stars were visible and the moon was hidden behind the swollen black pillows of water and air waiting to burst above them.

She heard the two approach and immediately turned to Jacob, "Are you ready for this?"

He nodded. "I'm not sure how I could be more ready, since I'm not sure what to expect." Carol smiled, a tired but knowing smile.

"I had to do some more research today in the old texts. I'm quite a bit rusty at our old language so it took some time, but I think I have the ceremony right. Lets begin quickly though, it is almost midnight, and I don't want you to loose your nerve."

"Sister, where do you want me at?"

"Just stay close to Jacob. He may need some help, and I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to give it to him. One of the biggest downsides of going well past seventy years old," she chuckled. Zachary moved over next to the clearly nervous man. "Now Jacob, the ceremony isn't very complicated, so you don't really need to remember anything, or do anything in particular." Carol could hear a stifled sigh of relief leave him.

She took a piece of kindling and lit it on fire with a small grey lighter and tossed it between them on a carefully arranged pile of wood. The wood immediately burst into flame causing a small campfire and shedding light around them. It was with the additional light now that Jacob noticed a few other things arranged around in the yard. There was a small bench near Carol, as well as what looked like a rickety end table with an elegant looking cup on it carved from what look bone to jacob. There was also a series of curiously placed stones around in a circular shape, outside of where they were standing.

"I've already combined most of the mixture you'll have to drink. I just need you over here for a minute Zach." Zach moved over near his sister. She leaned forward and whispered something into his ear. He nodded and held out his hand to her and turned his head away, shutting his eyes tightly.

Carol slid a small black leather handled knife out from under her blouse. With a quick slashing motion she sliced through Zachary's skin, creating a superficial cut across his palm. Jacob could see Zach's eyes wince and he was somewhat curious about what type of knife would cut vampire skin so easily.

Quickly, before the half-vampire healed, she turned his hand, palm down, over the prepared cup and squeeze it until a small amount of blood ran down his palm and dripped into the mixture. Carol returned Zach's hand to him and studied the cup as Zachary returned to where Jacob was standing, wringing his injured hand with his other one.

"Are you ok," Jacob whispered to him, trying to look unconcerned.

"Yeah." Zachary held up his palm. The wound was essentially gone and even the scar that started to form was healing. "I heal fast, but I don't much like getting cut."

Jacob nodded in sympathy. "How was that knife able to cut you anyway? I mean, you're skin should be hard as rock." Jacob let his curiosity overcome his worry about the ceremony.

"Oh yeah. The blade is actually some type of wolf tooth. It is something that has been passed down in my family for generations, I'm told. I don't really know the specifics, but I did cut myself on it once about twenty years ago." He shrugged, "she must have assumed it would still cut me."

Jacob thought this was interesting, but before he had any more time to reflect on it, Carol approached him. She was holding the cup in her hands, carefully cradleing the goblet to avoid dropping it, along with the mixture it contained.

Zachary looked curiously at the cup but wasn't able to see into it from his vantage point. "The ceremony is quite simple. We need to share in this mixture. It will taste terrible," she warned him, "but we will once we drink from this our souls will be connected for a short time. I will pray to our ancestors to free you from the imprinting, and if all goes well they will do so. I'm not exactly sure what you'll see, the effects of the mixture are different for everyone, but you will have to confront your feelings in some way. Are you ready?" She peered inquisitively at Jacob.

He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and wiped the sweat that was beading on his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'll be right here if you need me," Zach said helpfully, picking up on Jacob's nervousness.

Jacob nodded at the half-vampire and turned to Carol. "I'm ready." Carol grimaced for a moment and then brought the chalice up to her lips and drank deeply from the mixture. A rather unpleasant look crossed her face, but she regained control of herself quickly and handed the cup to Jacob.

"Drink the remainder of it," she told him. He pulled the cup up to his mouth and took a deep breath before he drank. This turned out to be a mistake as a wave of nausea hit him from the pungent smell of the mixture. He fought back though and held his breath and brought the cup to his lips and drank all the liquid that remained.

The liquid was surprisingly cool as it washed over his tongue and down his throat. There was a strong bitter taste that followed, however, ruining the slightly pleasant sensory feeling of the liquid. He was surprised that the taste wasn't nearly as overwhelming as the smell had made him believe. He noticed a faint metallic taste as the flavor of the liquid was fading in his mouth, and it suddenly dawned on him with a sense of disgust that the mixture contained Zach's blood.

"Are you ok?" Jacob heard concern in the voice, although the voice sounded far away. He blinked and looked around him. His surroundings were somewhat blurred. As he turned his head the world turned fuzzy, and when he stopped it came back into focus. Or at least better focus. There was a short person standing next to him, looking up at him. The figure looked familiar, but Jacob's mind felt fuzzy. He had trouble recalling the information locked away in his head.

"That's who the voice came from," he thought to himself. He squinted as he looked at the figure. "I know him. Thats Zachary." His mind felt sluggish. He heard a chanting coming from across a glowing mass that was to his right side. There was heat emanating from this mass. "Oh yeah; we made a fire." He was confused. Part of his brain was having trouble grasping this, even though another part of is brain remembered clearly.

Jacob turned back toward Zachary. "What's happening to me?"

Zachary shrugged but looked worried. "I'm not sure. Carol is praying to our ancestors. How do you feel? What's happening?" Jacob only heard the first part of what Zach was saying to him. Right in the middle of Zachary's question, Jacob noticed something move behind the vampire. Something glowing with light, a beautiful purple, pink and blue pattern. He felt drawn toward it.

Jacob moved past Zach as the half-vampire wrung his hands together unsure of what, if anything, to do. As the shifter got closer to the swirling light he made out a face. "Nessie!" he shouted at the moment he recognized her. "You came to find me!"

Had Jacob been looking back, instead of in front of himself, he would have seen Zach's puzzled expression at the outburst. But he didn't and so he moved toward the girl without hesitation. A smile crossed her lips. "Why are you surrounded by all this light," Jacob asked. It was at that moment, however, that he noticed everything around him seemed to be glowing with its own light. The trees beckoned to him with a brilliant red and orange glow raining upon him from their autumn leaves. The ground waffled a strong earthy light beneath his feet. Even Zach, he noticed, radiated a green and yellow halo around his body.

"How did you find me Nessie?" he asked as he turned back to the apparition.

The figure beckoned to him to follow her. Something didn't seem right to him, though. He couldn't place his finger on it. His mind felt drunk and his head spun with dizziness. "Wait Nessie, I want you to meet someone. Two people in fact."

He looked back toward the other side of the campfire, where he had heard the chanting earlier. A woman was there, but she was no longer chanting. She was hunched over. No light beamed from her. Next to her was Zach, leaning over and holding the still woman's hand.

Jacob looked back to Renesmee who continued to motion for him to follow her. "No Nessie, something's wrong. I can't leave, wait for me!" The figure of Renesmee moved back further into the trees. Jacob was torn.

Looking back to Carol he saw Zachary holding her head close to his chest. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. He looked back to Nessie. She was leaving through the forest, calling him to join her. He wanted to join her. More than anything.

He turned to where Zachary held his sister. Zachary looked up at Jacob with a sadness in his eyes that penetrated the hazy mind of the shifter. Jacob heard his name in a faint whisper behind him. He knew Renesmee was leaving. He didn't turn toward her thought. He made his decision and moved forward toward the brother and sister that he had come to care about in such a short time.

The kaleidoscope of light began to fade as he moved across the circle toward the two. Years later when he would think back upon this very moment, he would swear that as he approached the two siblings he heard in a skin chilling whisper, the words "good bye."

He stumbled over to them. His vision cleared but became dark. His legs buckled out from under him. He fought the loss of energy from his muscles.

He looked over to Zachary who was still cradling Carol's head. "Is she ok," he asked franticly, though he heard his own voice slur as he asked. He fell to the ground catching himself by his hands. He could feel the rest of his muscles weaken.

Zachary looked to Jacob, tears streaming down his face etched deeply with sorrow. "She's dead."


End file.
